Dear Gifted Me: Christine Fonseca

For today’s Dear Gifted Me post, I thought I should share my letter to my younger gifted self:

Dear Christine (no one calls you Tina anymore…):

I have so much I want to tell you. I guess I’ll start with the big one – you are enough, just as you are. It’s a concept you will struggle with. But you have to trust me, you really are enough. You don’t need to be perfect to be loved. You don’t need to act a certain way, or fulfill someone else’s expectations.

The other biggie….you are smart. No seriously, stop laughing, you are SMART. VERY SMART. I know, I know, you are busy comparing yourself to your friends – the ones who get perfect SAT scores, and pass every test they ever take with a perfect score. You think because you are a lousy test taker that somehow you aren’t smart. Not really. But guess what, you are – in ways you just can’t appreciate yet. You won’t believe me on this, you’ll be convinced I’m just saying it to make to feel better. But trust me, you are crazy-smart, something you won’t appreciate until your older.

Now, the hard stuff…boys, friends, the whole social scene. I know you’re a geek and a nerd at a time when being those things was just horrible. You’ll get bullied for it, and then you’ll try to change who you are. You’ll dumb yourself down to fit in. And for a while, it’s going to work. But trust me, you’ll hate it. You’ll hate yourself for it. And you’ll eventually realize it wasn’t worth it. My advice, stop trying to fit in with that group…you know the one I’m talking about. Find a different group. Your music buds. Stop trying so hard to get people, especially boys, to accept you. Again, you are enough as you are.

You really are!

Okay, enough preaching – I know how much you hate that.

A couple of other things…Hold on to the dream about writing. You don’t know it, but you will write. It’s going to become your favorite creative outlet. And the dream about dancing, hold on to that one too. Just because you aren’t “perfect” at it, don’t stop doing it. You need the physical outlet, and once you stop, once you stop working out all together, you are going to find it really hard to start back up.

Finally, have confidence in yourself. I know a lot of yuck things have happened to you. But you don’t have to let that stuff define you. You can choose to be whoever you want, despite the stuff from the past. You just need to make that decision.

So, follow your dreams. All of them. Be fearless; at your core, it’s who you are anyway. You just need some time to figure that out. And you’ll love this video later on in life. It really says everything, so watch and listen to the words. 

Love you!

Christine

PS – tell people to stop calling you Tina. I know how much you HATE IT!

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So, there you go – my Gifted Me letter. Want to contribute your own? Just contact me at christine(at)christinefonseca.com